Eternal
by Miss Arty
Summary: It all begins with curiosity and then infatuation and finally to obsession. Trapped in a love that will never end, an infinite cycle of time.  Vampire story: doesn't feature sparkly ones.  Please no flaming. First somewhat horror oneshot.


**Author's Note**: This has been sitting in my computer for awhile. I wasn't sure if I wanted it published or not, and when I reread it, I realized that it really wasn't that good. I'd like it if you, the reader, could give me some feedback via reviews; it's my first time writing a sort of creepy story and publishing it. Please no flaming.

-oOo-

The stars were still invisible as he trekked down the small path hidden in the fields.

He hadn't meant to stray from his original path, but the peaceful aura of the forest had been irresistible. It was the perfect setting for his daily meditation, and he comfortably absorbed all the gentle energy radiating from the trees.

He had been so content with feeling the balance of his soul and the outside world that he hadn't realized that time had escaped from his fingers so quickly. Almost regretfully, he pulled his inner powers away from the magic of the woods that had embraced him like a long lost lover.

The moon was no longer a faint paleness in the darkening skies; the whiteness was becoming crisper and clearer, the outlines of the crescent ever so defined.

This sudden clarity only invigorated his efforts to find a place to stay for the night. Though the forest had promised serenity and safety during the hours of the sun, he was not going to risk his life in the darkness because of his idleness.

Picking up his pace, he followed the barely but still noticeable trodden earth road, hoping to find another sign of civilization hiding somewhere in the thick wilderness.

His magically enhanced amber eyes caught the faint radiance of a distant light – probably a lamp of some village gatekeeper, he thought to himself – and he eagerly approached it. Instead of the small village he had been expecting, however, he was pleasantly surprised to see a lovely little cottage adorned in vines and blooming white flowers.

Stepping up to alert the owner of the little house, he was again surprised to see that the door was already open, a pretty woman standing there as if she had waited for his arrival.

"Welcome," she said as she bowed.

"Hello," he bowed back. "I've come to request a bed and meal for the night."

Politely, he straightened up to see to whom he was addressing. The woman was quite tall, he realized, and she had the aura of a queen. She held herself gracefully, even when she ushered him inside like a mother, and when she passed him, he took notice of her facial features. Long hair the color of gold and darkened honey was pulled up into a little bun and framed her lovely sparkling green eyes. Her skin was flawless, except for the slight wrinkles adorning the corners of her emerald eyes and her figure was curved yet slender.

She was evidently much older than her appearance at first glance would reveal, but he knew that she must've been extraordinarily beautiful in her youth.

Following her into a small but enchanting little kitchen, he sat down in one of the chairs and let himself be offered tea, which he accepted.

"You are a traveller?" she asked as she poured the steaming tea into a delicate cup.

Nodding as he took the cup into his hands, he took a sip. He relished the bittersweet sensation that washed over him like a warm wave as the hot water flowed down his throat.

"Yes, my name is Li Syaoran," he told her. "I come from a faraway kingdom on the continent."

"Ah, I see," she said. "As you observe, I am the only resident in the fields of Clow, but it is quite rare to find a traveller here, especially one seeking to stay the night. May I inquire for what reason are you here?"

Syaoran smiled as he remembered the task set to him. He was on his pilgrimage to the city of Clow, the magical capital of the East, a trip that all sorcerers who wished to strengthen themselves would take. He was already a formidable magic user, but his clan had been quite adamant in sending him on the trip. He hadn't minded for once; he'd always wanted to see the world. As he told the lady, he noticed that her smile had grown sweeter.

"The magical pilgrimage!" she exclaimed. "I've taken that very route before. I used to possess magic, you know. It's too weak now, but I suppose that my daughter's ability makes up for my lack of magic."

"Your daughter knows magic?" he asked, curious. All his life, he had been isolated from most other magic users outside of his family so he'd never met a person with a completely different code of magic than he.

"Yes. She is also about your age," the woman said, her verdant eyes growing misty as if remembering something deep in the past. "But she is ill right now. I apologize for not being able to introduce you to each other. She should be back to her usual health soon though, Li-san."

He smiled once more, unable to resist the maternal warmth the woman radiated. The housewife seemed so loving and kind that he was reminded of his own mother.

When she stood up to put away the dishes, he followed suit. Afterwards, she took a candle and beckoned for him to follow her.

He let himself be led into a cozy little hallway – strangely, there were no paintings or decorations of any sort on the yellow painted walls – where the older woman pointed to a room at the end.

"This shall be your chamber until you take your leave," she announced. "If you require anything, please do not hesitate to call for me."

As she turned to leave, he called out.

"What is your name?"

With a mysterious smile, she replied:

"You may call me Nadeshiko."

-oOo-

The next day, he woke up the tantalizing scent of frying eggs and soup.

The room he found himself in was just as wonderful as the rest of the house – smooth silk sheets, a soft mattress, velvet curtains, and a golden ray of sunshine drifting from the clear glass window. It was almost as luxurious as his own room back at home and for a moment, he did believe he was home.

A knock alerted him, and his magical senses instinctually reached out to feel a feeble aura behind the door.

"Li-san!" a merry voice rang slightly muffled through the other side of the wood. "It is time for breakfast."

He changed his clothes and put his belongings back into the little cloth knapsack he carried. It was only a red herring though – he carried his most important possessions in or on his body so he didn't mind if his bag was ever stolen. However, he was sure that no one would be able to rob him of the sack anyway. He was the best swordsman in his kingdom (which was renowned for offensive magic) so he felt himself more than capable of defending his property.

When he opened the door, he saw Nadeshiko with a smile and an apron on.

"Would you like to go downstairs or stay in your room to eat?" she inquired.

"I'd like to go down, if you don't mind," he told her graciously.

He was enjoying his stay here at the cottage very much and when he told her so, he saw her smile grow even wider.

"My daughter wants to meet you very much, Li-san," she said as she poured him some milk. "But she is still too frail from her illness to see you just yet."

He nodded as he sank his teeth into egg. He could wait for the maiden to get better before inspecting her magic.

It was then when he noticed that Nadeshiko's complexion was paler than their usual rosiness and that her eyes were dulled by fatigue. She seemed quite tired, as if she had been laboring since sunrise.

"Nadeshiko-san, I've been wondering… Don't you have a husband?" he looked around as if he expected to see the man standing about.

She gave him a sad smile, one of nostalgia and bitterness. "No, I haven't a husband. In this cottage, there is only my daughter and myself. You are our newest boarder, the first one in a long time. We have longed for company, but it's quite difficult to meet new people here."

He glanced at her forlorn expression and felt guilty for bringing up the subject. No wonder she was so exhausted. She had no one to share her burdens with and could only toil through the days alone with only her daughter as company.

"Then, I'm glad that I've come here," he responded not unkindly.

"I am, too," she agreed.

He decided to extend his stay at this cottage right then – after all, he wasn't in much of a rush – and his hastened departure would only bring more loneliness to the small family.

-oOo-

It was in the evening when he first met her – the enigmatic character only mentioned in sparse conversations with his landlord.

He had expected a sickly and weak looking girl who had driven her mother to collapse, perhaps featuring stringy black hair and generic brown eyes with no spirit. He had already resigned himself to keeping her company for her mother, who was concerned that her daughter had grown up with too little contact with the outside world.

He'd hoped to compare magical auras with her, but he hadn't sensed any magic besides his landlord's during his four day long stay at the cottage. To him, not sensing an aura meant that the owner must've been weak and his clan refused to allow him to associate with feebler sorcerers than themselves.

But when he first put his golden gaze on the girl, his images of her were dashed into pieces.

She was just as beautiful as her mother, with the same long locks of honey colored hair and enchanting jewel like eyes. She was slender and pale, like he had imagined, but it wasn't due to her condition but to her natural looks. The maiden was tall for a female like her mother and her apparent delicateness was not because of being pampered as she had been, Syaoran thought, but because she simply resembled a flower. A cherry blossom, perhaps, he thought to himself.

The moment she opened those ruby red lips, he knew he was captivated, for eternity.

"Hello," her eyes glittered brilliantly like diamonds as she approached him.

The scene was like from a dream… And maybe it was.

White roses surrounded the girl, bringing out the angelic facial features she possessed and made her glow in the moonlight like an ethereal spirit. The loose white nightgown she donned shifted slightly as a phantom wind kissed her body.

Syaoran found himself speechless, as all mortal men would be in the same situation.

"Hello," he found himself saying dazedly.

She gave him a smile that seemed to both chill him and light a fire in his chest.

"May I inquire if you have been pleased with your lodgings?" her voice was like silk as it glided through the air and wrapped itself around his heart.

"More than pleased," he replied, now trying to seem more like his usual self instead of the idiot he must've seemed like just then.

"I'm glad," she let her words flow out in wisps. "How long do you plan on staying, sir?"

He felt strange that this creature with unearthly beauty was addressing him so formally, as if he were her superior.

"I must go to the city of Clow to learn more magic," he told her. "I might stay here for just a few more days, miss. But please, call me Syaoran."

The corners of her rosy red lips tilted upwards for a moment, her eyes sparkling with some unknown emotion. "I am Sakura."

He rejoiced in the fact that her name truly reflected her loveliness. A cherry blossom – a flower so delicate and pretty that one couldn't help but try to protect it.

"Well then, Sakura-san." He felt the need to show his respect. After all, he was burdening her family.

Boldly, she came even closer to him, grabbing his hand from his side.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Li-kun."

He never noticed that she had used his last name, a name that he'd never told her. When it did occur to him much later, he would regret it.

-oOo-

Days turned into weeks and eventually, Syaoran's stay at the cozy little cottage morphed into months.

His life became a cycle, an unceasing pattern of the same things over and over again, infinitely looping repeatedly.

The hours of the sun were spent with Nadeshiko, helping her clean and cook and other household chores. All he could think about though, was her daughter Sakura. He could never remove her existence from his conscience; he couldn't resist thinking about those pink tinted cheeks that she had recently adopted (he liked to think that she was recovering quickly from her sickness because of his care) and those clear green eyes that struck his heart so thoroughly. He could no longer concentrate on his masters' teachings or his own training; his magical instruments lay in his little forgotten knapsack unused and neglected.

During the hours after sunset, he would visit Sakura in the garden. She was prohibited from going out into the sunshine because of her physical frailty but being in the moonlight was not detrimental to her health.

Together, they would walk through the sandy paths of the garden, observing the rapidly blooming white roses and talking idly about his life back in his realm. He would skillfully pluck a rose without piercing himself on the sharp thorns surrounding the flowers and place it in her hair every night before they separated at midnight so he could sleep.

He felt as if he lived for those nights with her, that he was solely created to be with her forever.

And soon, he decided that he would fulfill that idea.

He had toyed with the idea of marriage to Sakura since even their initial meeting, but never before had he felt the urge to stay with her and bond with her so strongly. He could no longer feel the passing of time as he once did; every day, he only really lived at night for his cherry blossom. He knew that her mother liked and approved of him well enough, so she wouldn't be opposed to the nuptial. Syaoran also knew that he was quite a catch, especially for a girl hidden from society and the world – who could be a better match than a Prince, heir to his own kingdom? He could only hope desperately that the maiden in question would accept his proposal.

However, as more and more time flowed by, his thoughts grew slightly more negative, turning away from the happy prospects of impending marriage.

He realized that not only did his mind wander during the time of the sun, his body had also begun to decline. He could no longer take his short daytime walks or gather firewood, nor could he even help Nadeshiko with her simple household chores. His gradual suffering into depletion was added to the infinite circle.

His third month was spent indoors; his fourth month he spent bedridden.

By the fifth month, he was weaker than ever and never left his bedroom until the sun hid itself below the tall oak trees surrounding the cottage garden. When the first rays of the moon flowed through the glass of his windows, he would jump from his bed and into the garden to continue his trysts with Sakura.

Those stolen moments were all that he lived for now and he was determined to enjoy them, illness or not. He felt so refreshed and content after every meeting that he believed that she would eventually cure him of his sudden physical depression.

The cycle continued on until he looked and acted nothing as he had first been when he arrived at this cottage – his beautifully tanned skin had turned sickly pale, his expressive amber eyes faded into a weakened brown with a faint whisper of gold, his lithe body had forfeited all of its former strength. Even his magic had been diminished until only a faint green glow was all that was left from his once blazing forest green aura.

It was clear that contrary to what he believed that he was going to overcome this unknown sickness, this disease would surely consume and overwhelm him instead.

Nadeshiko seemed to be sympathetic and rather enthusiastic to deliver food to his room. Her delicious meals did nothing for his ailing health; no matter how much he tried to convert the food into energy, he was still getting more and more feeble.

He still forced himself out of his room for Sakura, however, and it was evident that the hours he lost sleeping and resting were taking a toll on his already haggard body. Sakura did nothing to stop his movements though, to his relief.

She was the only one who could understand how much he truly loved her.

-oOo-

He awoke to the bright and golden rays of the sun, causing his sore eyes to throb erratically. His head was heavy with thoughts of his beloved and ached from the saturation.

Syaoran knew from his old medical training back at home that he wasn't to last much longer. He finally accepted that he would meet his end here, in this cottage somewhere between his kingdom and the city of Clow.

He never finished his pilgrimage to the magical capital. The moment the thought struck him, he remembered his mother and his entire clan.

They had sent him off with a mission – to become the strongest sorcerer his family had ever sired. They wanted him to become strong enough to protect them, to become a man for not only himself but for his loved ones.

Little did they know that he wouldn't be able to come back to them.

However, he didn't feel a tinge of guilt or regret for embarking on a voyage he could never complete. After all, he did meet his fated one on his way to his destination. He could never regret meeting Sakura, no matter the circumstances.

So, with all of his remaining determination and strength, he painstakingly got up from his warm silk sheets and slowly made his way downstairs.

As usual, Nadeshiko was cooking something in the kitchen. Scents flooded the air, reminding him of his lost home. Nostalgia and an incredible pain dipped into his heart as his nose drank in the smells. He wanted to at least send out a message to his family that he was too weak to come home and that he had found the woman he wanted to be with forever, he thought. They deserved to know what became of him, what fortune he had struck.

With that in mind, he returned to his room and grabbed his knapsack. He was standing by the door when he was overcome with a feeling of intense throbbing pain from his neck and wrists, causing him to drop his burdens.

"Syaoran-san, are you alright?" cried Nadeshiko as she heard his groan of pain from the kitchen. She eyed his bag wearily and then asked, "Are you leaving?"

"No," he coughed, feeling the taste of coppery blood deep in his throat. "I just wanted to take a walk. I'll be back soon."

She looked at him with what seemed like disbelief, but he ignored her expression.

"Take care, Li-san," she finally replied.

Syaoran didn't perceive the change in tone in her words, as well as her sudden revert to addressing him by his surname. He picked up his pack and limped out of the door, hoping that the dregs of his magical energy were enough to deliver his final message to the family he would probably never see again.

Each step he took, his body faltered and his lips would tremble with the agony each movement generously provided for him. He refused to give up, however, and slowly advanced to the clear pond he remembered seeing before he took lodging in Nadeshiko's home; the glittering liquid crystal stood still as glass and not a single leaf or hair polluted its transparent depths.

Had he been at his original strength, he would have sensed the strong magical residues scattered across the surface of the water and would have realized that something was amiss. Unfortunately for the young and weakened magician, he only scooped up the water in his palm, looking at it when it trickled through his white fingers.

Unable to resist its temptation, he took another handful of the water and drank some of it, loving how refreshing the liquid felt as it flowed through him.

The water was essential for his ritual as a cleanser or purifier and he should have remembered that because this spell depended on the phases of the moon, his magic would be even more handicapped than ever when he was performing it in the daylight. But he knew that he mightn't even live to nightfall and that the ceremony couldn't wait.

Taking his little tasseled trinket from his bag, he released it into its true form, the solidified pride and prime heirloom treasure of the Li Clan, which was a _jian_ that was passed down through generations of sorcerer-warriors.

He took the moment to admire the glow and gild of the blade that he had missed over the last few months – there really wasn't any reason to pull out his sword during his stay at the peaceful cottage, and he was slacking off of his training – and pulled out a small slip of paper from his pocket.

Preparing himself for the extreme drainage of his remaining powers, he bit his lip and cut himself slightly on his sharp blade, trembling as his blood mixed with the little droplets of water on his hand. With the strange mixture of the magical blood and water in his possession, he pumped the last few sparks of his power into the solution, causing his hand to glow red.

Using his shaking finger, he traced the remembered lines onto the slip of paper, creating glowing crimson symbols on the surface. He no longer had the excess power and luxury to worry about his calligraphy and he knew his family would be annoyed with him. Chuckling weakly, he took the care to make his handwriting legible, at least.

When he finished, he took his sword and lit it with his green energy. It didn't glow brilliantly as it used to, but it seemed happy that its master was using it again, even if it were his last time wielding it. Sure that even this bit of magic was satisfactory, he chanted a few foreign words and tossed the ofuda he had made into the air, waiting for the wind to pick it up and sense the sorcery emitting from it.

True to his expectations, the King of the Wind recognized his magical signature and obliged to his request. The breeze turned fiercer and whirled around his ofuda as if depositing its own power into it. As the paper blew closer to Syaoran, he picked up his sword and slammed the blunt edge of it onto the surface, causing the resulting blast of light to temporarily blind him.

As soon as the flash subsided, he felt his crumbling energy deplete and his sword transformed back into its miniature tasseled necklace. Exhausted, he felt himself crumble onto the ground, his head hitting a stone before him. He was too tired to even breathe, but somehow he picked up his body and stumbled on the path back to Nadeshiko's.

She was waiting for him at the door as if she knew he was going to return. He was faintly surprised when she gently lifted his fatigued body as if he weighed almost nothing and carried him back up to his room.

When he settled into his comfortable bed of goose feathers, she smiled.

"Are you feeling better, Li-san?" she asked with a tint of concern in her voice. "I think that you must've been overexerting yourself… Please don't scare me like that!"

"I apologize," he replied weakly, his eyes fluttering shut as his body wracked with exhaustion. "I won't do it again."

She smiled, but he didn't notice the eerie glow lacing her beautiful emerald eyes. It seemed as if she knew that he would keep his word indefinitely.

"Sakura told me that she has a surprise waiting for you tonight," Nadeshiko said, a glimmer of anticipation in her voice.

Syaoran felt his body drain cold as if ice was being poured through his veins but his heart flushed with heat and love. His mind could no longer cope with the conflicting sensations coursing within his very existence and shut down almost instantaneously.

The darkness welcomed his soul into its unfeeling embrace, immersing him in an addicting numbness that he would soon grow accustomed to.

-oOo-

When he awoke, his mind felt clearer than it had been for a long time.

It was disorienting in several ways; for one, all thoughts of Sakura had been wiped from his conscience and her absence made him feel more lighthearted than when he was a child.

Yet what really caused him to become alert was the fact that he was no longer in his comfortable bed or his luxurious chamber at all. In fact, Syaoran noticed that he wasn't even in the cottage's property at all.

He was surrounded by a wall of thick trees with trunks as wide as he was tall. Plants and shrubbery grew abundantly around his feet, and he realized that his shoes were on. Disturbed, he moved his foot and almost gasped when he discovered that only under his feet the greenery refused to grow.

The bare dirt under his feet told him that it seemed as if he had been there for so long that he had disturbed the plant growth of the area. Strange, he thought. His brain told him that he'd only been standing there for a few minutes at most while his body ached with a pain that resembled his discipline and stamina exercises back at home – standing outside for four days without food or water except for the rain and precipitation that fell from the sky. Except that this soreness definitely wasn't only from a few days, it was more like… months.

Even more alarmed than before, he tried to move. But as he tried to move from his patch of bare soil, he felt something sharp tugging at both his wrists.

As he looked at his hands, Syaoran saw vines of roses tying his wrists down to the tree he was standing near. As he inspected it more carefully, the vines had also entangled themselves onto his entire body, leaving only part of his legs free from their grasp. The roses glowed in the dark; they were as white as snow in the sunlight.

They reminded him of the roses in Sakura's garden.

He frowned, not liking what this revelation was trying to urge him.

Just as he was about to make a conclusion, his ears caught the sound of crunching leaves and twigs. His instincts told him that he should be quiet and pretend to be asleep, as he was before he realized he was in this forsaken place.

Closing his eyes, he strained to use his other senses to find out who or what was approaching him.

"Syaoran-kun?" a twinkling voice following a soft caress to his face almost made him open his eyes.

He fought hard to remain still as he tried to recognize the lovely voice.

"I've a gift for you," she whispered to his ear, her breath grazing his skin lightly.

He wanted to shudder – why was her breath so cold? It felt like melting snow dripping down his neck.

"I suppose my mother told you to meet me at the garden?" she asked, her fingers playing with his thick brown hair now.

His body stiffened involuntarily as he remembered whose voice it was…

"Sakura?" he couldn't help whispering, sounding less heartbroken than he really was.

"Hm?" was her thoughtless reply. She wound her fingers deep into his hair, as if enjoying the sensation of the soft strands running around her pale skin.

Syaoran used all his innate self-control to not open his eyes. He had a feeling, just a feeling, that opening them would be his end.

He didn't speak again, to Sakura's apparent disappointment.

"You know, I waited here for so long for you," she murmured. "… so long."

He felt his senses almost succumb to the alluring enchantress's voice, despite the fact that he was now aware of his predicament. Her spell hadn't completely worn off – it was addictive, to his unwilling joy.

She hadn't expected an answer, but she tilted his head downwards with her smooth hands so that she now faced his own visage.

After a moment of both feeling disgusted and enjoying her fresh, crisp breaths of frigidity, Syaoran felt his body relax against his will under her fingers' caress across his no longer tan face.

And then, all of a sudden, as if Sakura knew his conscious had been restored to him, she pressed her ruby red lips to his. The cold diamond-like texture to her mouth wasn't what he had expected from the girl and neither were the sharp puncturing teeth pricking into his mouth.

He couldn't help it, but his eyes shot open as a numbing pain was unleashed near his neck as she pulled away from his lips and repositioned herself at his throat.

Syaoran could distinctively feel two epicenters of pain, about a few centimeters apart. He shuddered, but he couldn't identify it was with fear or enjoyment.

She was holding him so gently, that he was sure that he could've fallen asleep right there in Sakura's arms, no matter if he was being drained of his life's essence. He felt the body pressed against him suddenly grow warm while he slowly felt colder. Strength deserted him and he sagged into her arms further.

"You're awake, Syaoran-kun?" she asked innocently, wiping a bit of red liquid from her already deep crimson lips with a white sleeve. Somehow, the blood only absorbed itself into the cloth, disappearing and leaving no visible traces.

Trying to find his breath again, for the incision of his neck had severely injured his capacity for functioning properly, he nodded weakly, unable to speak. He looked up and was surprised that her ghostly pale skin was now specked in pale pink, truly making her look like a cherry blossom in the moonlight.

"Why?" he croaked, finding himself incapable of believing that his love was this monster that fed upon human blood.

"What do you mean?" Sakura tilted her head in wonder. "Why are you here or why am I drinking from your neck?"

Her nonchalance and casualness about the whole situation couldn't hide the slight glimmer of sadistic pleasure in her emerald eyes. He felt like utter prey to this enrapturing predator but he fought the urge to rip from her gaze.

"Both," he said in the strongest voice he could muster despite his lack of power.

With a twinkling laugh and a flash of admiration running across her flawless face, she decided to answer. "I knew that you were the one when you came, you know. You simply radiated in power, a power that I wanted. And the fact that you are equally strong spiritually is truly an admirable trait, Syaoran-kun. But the one thing I really wanted…"

She kissed his cheek softly, something he never expected. Her lips were soft and warm now, probably because of his unwilling donation of blood.

"…Was your heart," she finished.

Syaoran felt said organ flutter in happiness with her words, somewhat flattered by her strangely delivered compliments. He hated it. And yet, he loved it just as much.

"Answer," he pretended to ignore her earlier comment.

"I'll answer any questions you wish me to. After all, you've given me everything you possessed. It's only right to present you with something in return," she said smoothly, her grasp on his body loosening.

Syaoran knew she spoke the truth. He'd forfeited everything in his life, even his soul and heart, to her. Strangely, regret didn't immediately flood through him.

"You are tied to this tree because I chose you," she continued. "I wanted you. And, as a vampire, I suppose I wanted your blood, too."

He felt a prick of pain as one of her razor sharp teeth scraped the skin on his palm when she dipped her head towards his hand.

A warm pink tongue darted from the diamond- like teeth and Syaoran felt himself shiver with strong emotion as it caressed his rough hand.

"So, Syaoran-kun," Sakura purred lightly. "Are you staying with me? Forever?"

He knew he had no choice, even if she had seemingly handed him an ultimatum. Maybe she wasn't as evil as she appeared to be, for she had even let him have his closure… or as close to one as he could.

"Yes."

-oOo-


End file.
